Let your old school gamer out of its cage…

With all the excitement surrounding Star Wars: Battlefront, plus the recently announced mobile game Star Wars: Uprising, I thought I’d take a step back into the early 2000s and talk about a game that was very near and dear to my heart for several years, Star Wars Galaxies. I wasn’t really big into the MMORPG genre at the time, I’d played a little Ultima Online and very, very little Dark Ages of Camelot, but when I saw that Star Wars was throwing its hat into the ever-growing online gaming ring I knew I had to get in on that action…and man did I ever. I easily logged more hours playing “galaxies” (as all the cool kids would say) over the next 2-3 years than I did doing anything else, and I loved every minute of it. It was an incredibly huge, open-ended game with so many myriad possibilities that it was rare to stand beside someone in the cantina that was the same type of character you were, and the complex crafting system was unlike anything I’ve seen since. Honestly, I think they were a little ahead of their time and some people, including the developers based on the way they destroyed the good thing they had, didn’t know how to handle it…which, as I alluded, lead to it being dumbed down and overhauled into something that barely resembled the great game it used to be, and, though it stayed operational for quite some time after those changes, that’s when I parted ways with my ex-lover and moved my mmo allegiance to the Warcraft camp…but, enough about the past, let’s talk about the present and how a flightless bird brought me back to the good old days…

My favorite emu is SWGEmuThe “Emu” is actually short for “emulator,” but I like bad jokes…anyway, I’d lost touch completely with anything and everything Star Wars Galaxies until a friend of mine alerted me to the existence of a few “pre-cu” (“pre-combat upgrade,” where the “combat upgrade” was one of the first changes that SOE made to the game that lead to its ultimate destruction) servers, the most-talked-about being SWGEmu. So, naturally, I had to check it out, and, if you’re a fan of Star Wars video games, I’d be remiss if I didn’t suggest that you do the same, if for no other reason, just to say you have.

First thing’s firstI’m not sure about how other emulator servers work, but for SWGEmu, you have to have a copy of the game to get yourself started. This feat was easily accomplished for me since I rarely get rid of anything and, thus, had a copy handy in my video game stash. According to the SWGEmu installation website, though, acquiring a usable copy of the game isn’t that hard, as long as you’re willing to part with a little cash. So, once you have your game installed and go through the steps detailed on the aforementioned website to get up and running…what now? Well, I recommend the following start up tutorial and it’s counterpart as a way to get a handle on how things work:

Here’s where the fun begins!I’ll admit that I didn’t get back into the game like I used to be, but I have had quite a few fun moments…some of which are tied directly to nostalgia, but some are legitimately fun experiences playing the game that I think anyone that gives it a try can duplicate. Personally, my most fond memories from the original game and most memorable moments of the emulator all revolve around the creature handler profession, and finding and taming a pair of Graul Maulers. Aren’t they cute?

Also, yes, my character is a Wookiee that’s working toward being a bounty hunter and just so happens to be named Krrsantan…pretty cool, I know…in the interest of full disclosure, I actually macro the game more than I actively play it, but that’s oddly fun in its own, quirky way. Writing code and letting the game play itself for you feels like accomplishment…or at least it does to me, and, really, that’s what matters. So, for any aspiring marksman/creature handlers out there, here’s my main afk grinding macro:/pause 0.25;/target self;/pause 1; (I add pauses after every action because I feel like macros work more smoothly this way)/ui action cycleTargetOutward; (this targets the closest potential target)/pause 1;/attack; (this attacks said target…duh)/pause 2;/tellpet kill; (this assumes you have a pet and have trained it to attack with the word “kill”)/pause 15;/stand;/pause 1;/overchargeshot1; (this calls a special attack, for good measure; you could change it to whatever special attack you want)/pause 15;/stand;/pause 1;/harvest hide; (I try to harvest each type of resource because not every creature has all three; hide is my top priority, so I put it first)/pause 1;/harvest bone;/pause 1;/harvest meat;/pause 1;/loot all; (if you’re killing NPCs instead of creatures, this will loot from them)/pause 3;/sit;/pause 30; (break time to heal up)/stand;/ui action toolbarSlot0; (this calls the macro to start again as long as it’s in the first toolbar position; you can also use “/macro xxxxx” where “xxxxx” is the name of the macro you’d like to call)

So there you have it, an entry that, in hindsight, amounts to a mini plug for SWGEmu (it’s free, though, so there’s no kickback involved…don’t worry, I didn’t sell out). But it’s definitely something that’s worth trying out if you’re a Star Wars fan, or just a fan of the MMO genre and want to see how a great, old game used to be. If you have any questions, I’d be happy to answer them as best I can, but I imagine the SWGEmu forums or a quick google search would probably prove more productive…but the offer stands, regardless…now, get ye online and get old school, and, while you’re doing it, may the Force be with you…

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